ChuckD6421 

FemorAcetabular Impingement - Call it a bone spur in the hip socket and it's all good. Until they tell you the only fix is hip joint replacement, which is where I'm headed soon. So I'm not sure what to expect afa recovery goes and am soliciting others' experiences. They've given me some documentation but it's all geared for silver-haired folks who have a low fitness baseline. I'm 62 and more salt and peppered.
I'm reading cycling is excellent therapy and actually I can ride a bike now without too much discomfort. Spent 3 hours the other day having quality time with the snowblower and the only painful part was getting in and out of the cars to move them. It's putting on a sock that can be the biggest challenge.
I don't know what to expect once I get home from the procedure; our bedroom's on the second floor as well as the shower. Will I be sleeping downstairs for a while? The documentation I mentioned showed old geezers with walkers and canes. A cane can be a stylish thing, but a walker? Having trouble with that.

FBOATSB

You will thank your lucky stars you have that walker just moving about the house for the first couple days staggering around on opioides
I'm sure they will also tell you that bones require weight bearing exercise to mend. That's what they told me anyway after a spinal fusion at 58 years old.
You shall obey your torture master (physical therapist) for as long as it takes.
Good luck and I'll look you up for anecdotes when I have a knee replacement in the not so distant future.

ChuckD6421 

Opioides, eh? Well there is a silver lining.
And I will obey my torture master, as I have all the previous ones.
Thank you, and I will live to tell the tale.

KenCT

I had a hip replacement 14 years ago at the age of 45. Mine was due to arthritis from an injury I received in a motorcycle accident when I was 17, drove the femur head through the socket and spent 6 weeks in traction. It always hurt after any activity and became worse as I got older and developed a noticeable limp and swaying when I walked. Finally had the surgery when the pain became too much to bear. After the replacement my mobility came back pretty quick, stairs were not too much of an issue after a couple weeks. Fortunately our house at the time had a bathroom and spare bedroom on the first floor. Still needed to climb a short set of stairs to enter the house. I was taking walks of 2 to 3 miles in a hilly area two months after the surgery. I only used the walker for a few days after surgery and a cane for a couple months. I followed the directions from the physical terrorist, I mean therapist closely. It still took almost a year before I felt fully recovered. My replacement was the traditional posterior incision.

No issues with the replacement, I started biking on a mountain/comfort bike 6 months after surgery and rode over 1,000 miles mostly on gravel by the time I had my 1 year checkup. Riding more now, almost 5,000 miles this year and my hip does not bother me at all.

jppe

Crashed the bike in August 2018. I broke the femoral neck at the base of the ball. The ball was also dislocated from the socket. There wasn’t a way to pin it back together for a permanent repair. The next day I had a new hip using the posterior replacement method. Unfortunately I was at the mercy of using doctors I didn’t know but as it turned out I got a winner. Research and ask questions about the anterior replacement method. Much less restrictions and faster recovery.

I was up walking using the walker the day after surgery. Hint, put a bike bag on the walker to carry stuff with you. A lot of restrictions for at least a month on how much you could bend the hip. I ditched the walker and was using a cane within a few days. Only used the cane for one week. I was walking 5-6 miles daily with my golf buddies less than 3 weeks post surgery.......I didn’t tell my doctor though. Just listened to my body. PT wasn’t too bad. I had a list of about 7-8 exercises I did twice a day. He allowed me to get on the trainer after 10 weeks and road riding at 3 months but I was already riding 7 miles around the neighborhood before then. Back to playing golf at 4 months but I started hitting short shots at 3 months. My surgeon said my recovery was as fast as he’d seen.....I think the fact I was in spectacular shape at the time of the accident really helped, I had completed a 125 mile ride with 15,000’ of climbing the week before and was riding with the A group the night I crashed.

I rode the bike 6000 miles the next year and did multiple bike tours that were 500 miles a week. But I was slower from muscle apathy and loss of fitness. I couldn’t stay with the faster riders.....hills got me. Climbing hills was much more tedious as well. It took about 18 months to get back to about where I was on bike fitness while making some allowance for also being a little older. I finally felt a little stronger on that leg after about 18 months and 10,000 miles after the surgery.

I never really needed the pain meds. My hip has never bothered me but I do feel it if I try and pick up something pretty heavy.

My wife had hers replaced years ago and she waited way too long. She got to the point she couldn’t do normal things like walking trails.

ChuckD6421 

Thanks for real world replies, guys.
I'm fortunate that my Primary Care Doctor, an avid cyclist, recommended me to a Sports Orthopedist who's an accomplished triathlete (as in the Hawaiian Ironman among others). I'm going to the surgeon he recommended. All three of them are in much better shape than me, even with a good hip. So I'm comfortable that I'm in good hands.

ChuckD6421 

So.
Here I am three days into my new hip, a little more than a year after I first started this thread.The first attempt was scheduled for had been scheduled for a year ago December when at the last minute my cardiologist felt I needed a stent first. Because I need to do this in the Winter to minimize downtime (I am the grounds keeper/mechanic/repairman here) it then had to wait until this winter. Then, the day before my 1/4/22 appointment the surgeon's office called to report that A. elective surgeries were being shut down, and B. my own surgeon tested COVID positive (and then I tested positive 2 days later). Finally another date was set and that was this past Tuesday, and it's done.

Not much to report. It was the anterior procedure so, outpatient. Just in the past two days I've felt "marginal gains" but no way could I survive without the walker (thanks, Mom!). I will be setting up PT sessions next week. Aside from the grief I'm causing our dog with my less-than-graceful maneuvering with the walker, the only hard part was a nerve blocking procedure they performed before surgery. Similar in procedure to a cortisone shot except they leave the needle in and move it around while watching on an ultrasound.
Seriously miserable.

Fredo76

Now that you've had the operation, don't blow it. Be very careful with rotational limitations, or you might dislocate that new hip, like I did mounting my motorcycle to ride to physical therapy. They had told me that my only limitation would be to avoid excessive extension rearward (I had the anterior approach, too.) That was very wrong. I sold my Triumph and my Harley and bought a Suzuki Burgman scooter. Perhaps you will feel more confident in your hip replacement than I did after three more dislocations before the 'revision'. If not, read this post of mine:

https://www.bikeforums.net/22392255-post3098.html



Hip replacement dislocation

Best of luck with your new 'appliance'! Myself, I'm doing great now!

P.S. - at my hospital, they won't extend your physical therapy if you don't show enough improvement, so do your exercises at home!

ChuckD6421 

Some great tips Fredo. I was warned about rotation concerns.
I'll be contacting a local Rehab Center of good repute tomorrow.
My wife will drive me there. ; )